Mobile Access Gateway/AirWatch Tunnel Windows to Linux Migration Plan

With AirWatch v8.0, AirWatch introduced the AirWatch Tunnel product, which was the Linux version of the Mobile Access Gateway. AirWatch Tunnel, in addition to being a gateway for routing traffic securely to the intranet, also provides per app tunneling capabilities across multiple platforms, thus enhancing the user experience and the overall security for network access.

The graphic below shows the difference between the two servers in terms of what functionality they support.

AirWatch recommends that customers using the Mobile Access Gateway for Windows migrate to AirWatch Tunnel for Linux to take advantage of this superior functionality. This article aims to assist you in planning for the migration by providing step-by-step instructions for a seamless experience. After the successful completion of this migration, AirWatch Browser, applications wrapped with the AirWatch wrapping engine, and applications using the AirWatch SDK will continue to function.

Migration Steps

Refer to the AirWatch Tunnel Installation guide for either SaaS or on-premises for server requirements and sizing, as well as detailed instructions on how to install AirWatch Tunnel.

Make sure to configure and download the Linux installer from the same organization group where the Windows MAG was setup. The configuration wizard is designed to always generate both the Windows and Linux installers whenever one or the other is configured.

Point the existing Windows MAG DNS to the Linux instance.

Once your Linux infrastructure is set up and the AirWatch Tunnel is installed with all the components, work with your IT team to point the existing DNS for MAG (for example: mag.example.com) to the new Linux instance. Once this is done, all traffic will start flowing through the Linux servers instead of Windows.

Remove the Windows environment.

At this stage, your Windows environment is not required, and you can uninstall MAG from those servers and utilize these servers for other purposes.